Dear All,
I have been playing with water soluable wax. Are there any water
soluable wax fanatics in here who want to exchange experiences?
It’s not so easy to get documented about wax. Tsuyuki and Ohba
(‘Practical Wax Modeling’ - good book) do not mention water soluable
wax at all (they mention something else, namely Mitsuro, which is a
combination of soft wax, impression wax and pine resin. This looks
interesting too, as Mitsuro is stretchable and develops a very
organic look while being stretched; they also explain how to make
it); Kallenberg (‘Modeling in Wax for Jewelry and Sculpture’ - very
useful book) mentions water soluable wax only en passant (he devotes
less than one page to it).Other authors do not mention it (for ex.
Matiello, ‘Jewelry Wax Modeling’ - nice cover).
Water soluable wax can be melted. It keeps its initial properties
after cooling down. These properties are rather frustrating, as the
wax is ‘fat’, it sticks to the hands, is difficult to saw - I used
two spiral blades at the same time, but a decent wood saw would do
much better - and is difficult to file. Whatever file you use, it
will clog. However, these are not major problems, as it is well
possible to make a form in the wax that is close to the one you had
in mind, although the wax will not take any fine details. It’s
possible to ‘polish’ it and give it some shine - you can use your
fingers for this.I made a couple of cone forms (for pendants; they
are still try outs). I heated a bur and put the hot bur in the
soluable wax, as to give me a handle (on the top of the piece). I
then took what most Americans call a wine glass, but what we, in
Europe, call a long drink. A ‘flute’, which is a sort of recipient
commonly used by the lower classes and the nouveaux riches to consume
Champagne, would be ideal. Anyway, I melted some soft pink sheet wax,
poured the wax in the long drink and stuck the soluable wax in the
molten pink wax. The soluable wax got beautifully coated. Whereas the
soluable wax keeps its properties after cooling, the pink sheet wax
does not. Originally, this wax is very sensitive to heat and all
sorts of manipulation. It’s not meant to be filed. However, after
cooling down the sheet wax becomes hard (but also brittle). It can
now be filed rather well. It’s also possible to work on it with sand
papers or steel wool. It’s possible to melt other waxes on it, for
example blue wire wax or ‘normal’ green hard carving wax. However, I
think that the rule to melt the wax with the highest melting
temperature first and to use this molten wax to melt the wax with the
lower melting temperature in order to obtain a strong bond is not
valid here. If you try this with green wax, the pink wax will
deform. Anyway, all sorts of manipulations are possible and this
opens distinct possibilities for design. One of the limitations is
that the coat, the pink wax, will need to have some holes, as
otherwise the soluable wax will not get in direct contact with the
water and, by consequence, will not disappear. Once you are pleased
with your work, you can heat a bit of water - I heated it till appr.
80 degrees C. Put the piece in the water and the soluable wax will
start to bleed away. When the soluable wax has disappeared, cool off
the piece with cold water and hide the long drink from your wife. I
would be very interested to learn how designers use this wax. Any
is very welcome. With best regards, Will